


Status Quo

by twahtohnedskee



Series: Singing to My Soul [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-28
Updated: 2013-09-28
Packaged: 2017-12-27 21:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/983699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twahtohnedskee/pseuds/twahtohnedskee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Erica Reyes considers things, Stiles assesses his choice of best friend, Jackson Whittemore is a sore loser, and things go down at the first read-through. But hey, that's high school theatre.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Status Quo

The cast list came out last Friday and Erica was still seething about it. She’d started doing theatre in Sophomore year and it had taken her from quiet wallflower to full on Diva in two seasons. Given this, she couldn’t help the sting of bitterness at the fact that Allison got the lead in this season’s musical when she’d only been at BHHS for a couple of months.She didn’t hate Allison for being talented, that would be petty and totally beneath her. She was, however, rather frustrated not only about getting a supporting role (as if that wasn’t bad enough), but also the fact that it was a supporting role opposite Jackson Whittemore, douchebag of the year 3 years running. Before Allison, Erica and Jackson were the school’s go-to leads. They had excellent chemistry and got pretty solid reviews on their performances, a fact that amused everyone seeing as they couldn’t stand each other in real life. 

Honestly, she’d expected to be rid of him since he was a shoe in for male lead but apparently it was snatched from his perfectly manicured clutches by some new kid no one had ever heard of. Now that, Erica didn’t mind too much. She smiled to herself thinking about it. 

It was the first read-through for the cast after class and it was bound to be interesting. Erica, for one, was eager to see just who this new kid was. 

~ 

“And he was amazing, jesus, Scott you should have heard the guy. It’s like someone took exactly what Hunter is supposed to sound like right out of my head and transplanted it into his vocal chords.” 

“That’s creepy.” 

“No, it’s awesome!” Stiles said. He still hadn’t gotten over his excitement about their newest talent. Scott smiled at him indulgently. He was happy for his friend, really, but he wasn’t exactly sure what bro code stated about when your best friend seems to have a huge crush and not realize it. 

“And the weirdest thing,” Stiles continued, “Is that no one has heard of this guy! He wasn’t in choir or the glee club or anything. Never joined any singing competition to speak of and yet here he is!” 

Scott frowned at his best friend. “What did you do, Stiles, a background check?” 

“No.” Stiles flushed. “Maybe.” 

Scott rolled his eyes. 

“And you’re wrong, by the way.” 

“Huh?” Stiles blinked. 

“People have heard of him.” Scott said. 

“Like who people?” 

Scott shrugged. “Like me, people.” 

“What?” Stiles almost screamed. 

“Yeah dude,” Scott said, looking slightly alarmed. “He’s been in our little theatre thing almost as long as I have.” 

“No way,” Stiles shook his head. “Lydia would never have overlooked talent like his.” And a face like that isn’t one to forget either, Stiles added mentally.

Scott frowned again, looking very much like a confused puppy. “Well, he wasn’t an actor or anything. He just volunteered on and off for props and stuff. We’re sort of bros, actually. Never knew he could sing though.” 

Stiles was having difficulty processing this news. He whacked Scott with his copy of his script. 

“Scott McCall, were you friendship-cheating on me?” 

“What? No! Is that even a thing?” Scott said, flinching away. 

“It is, if you admit to doing it.” Stiles glowered. 

“We just hung out a few times, okay, that’s it.” Scott put up his hands in surrender. 

“So this is it, huh?” Stiles said. He was Lydia Martin’s right hand man, he had a flair for the dramatics. “You’re trading me, your best friend, in for the good looking blue eyed singer.” 

Scott was desperately looking for a scapegoat and latched on to the first thing he heard. He smiled brightly. “So you think he’s good looking?” 

Just as planned, Stiles sputtered. “I don’t--. I mean--” Stiles could have lied. He could have said something blithe and offhand, like ‘Well, I’m not blind.’ but this was Scott. The very same person who had put up with years of Stiles’ pining after Lydia and beared it like a martyr. And who was now also looking at him with puppy-eyes. Stiles sighed. “Yeah, I do.” 

Scott’s grin grew even wider. “This is great, you should totally ask him out.” 

Stiles laughed. “I barely know the guy. And I’m not actually sure he’s into” Stiles gestured wildly at himself, “all of this.” 

Scott thought about it. “I don’t actually think he’s all that picky.” 

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Scott. You’re a real pal.”

“Uh, I mean, he’s definitely into dudes so you have a chance?” 

“Alright, alright. Don’t hurt yourself trying to make a save.” Stiles laughed. 

Scott stuck his tongue out at him. Just then, Stiles’ phone started playing what was distinctly Marina and the Diamonds. Scott raised an eyebrow. A couple of people passing by also threw Stiles a couple of weird looks.

“Personalized ringtone,” Stiles explained. “My lady harkens. I better go see what she wants.” 

He started walking away backwards. “You still up for video games later?” 

“Definitely.” Scott replied with a grin which turned into a wince as Stiles bumped into someone who was carrying flyers about the animal shelter. He shook his head and helped the girl pick up the rest of the flyers as Stiles ran towards wherever Lydia was.  
~  
Erica made her way towards the classroom where the table read was going to be. The school said that they didn’t have enough money to have the auditorium all to themselves just for a table read and insisted they find another venue. Regardless, Lydia demanded complete attendance. 

Erica opened the door and smiled as heads turned to look at her. She would never get over that thrill, the contrast between how they looked at her before and how they did now. She tossed her hair and scanned the room. Most of them were looking in her direction at this point but only one person mattered. 

“Hey handsome,” she said, bumping her shoulder against Boyd’s when she sidled up against him. He smiled and pressed a kiss against her head. Erica returned the smile, realer than the one she had flashed for the benefit of the room, when his arm wrapped around her and she snuggled against him. 

Before they could do anything more than catch up on each other’s day, in stormed one Jackson Whittemore. Erica couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking with laughter at the sight of him, pissed off and looking for blood. Beside her, Boyd cracked a smile as well. 

“Hey, Whittemore!” Erica called, “How’s second best treating you?” 

Jackson scowled at her and headed in her direction. Boyd was shaking his head but she kept an unrepentant smirk on her face as Jackson drew nearer. She wasn’t afraid of him, not after she’d figured out that he was nothing but thinly veiled insecurities covered in expensive skin care products. 

“We need to talk,” he said, stopping in front of Erica and Boyd. 

“So talk,” Erica gestured for him to continue. 

Jackson glanced at Boyd and then back at Erica. “Alone.” 

Erica rolled her eyes but pushed off from where she had been leaning. She gave Boyd a reassuring peck on the cheek and followed Jackson outside the classroom and into the hallway. 

“Okay, what’s this about?” Erica asked, even though she had a feeling she already knew. 

“I’m here to make you a deal,” Jackson said, “I figured you and I want the same thing. We want the leads, hell, we deserve the leads.” 

Erica snorted. “Yes well apparently little Mr. Nobody deserved it more.” 

“Just listen, okay?” Jackson snapped. “We can help each other out. You take care of the new kid, I’ll take care of Allison and we both get what we want.” 

“Are you suggesting sabotage or murder, I can’t be sure.” 

“Christ, can you just take this seriously for one second?” Jackson said exasperatedly. “Don’t pretend like you don’t want this as badly as I do.” 

The thing was, Erica did want it. She wasn’t sure she was as ready as Jackson to hit below the belt but she was no stranger to playing dirty. She didn’t fight this hard to get noticed just to get sidelined. She thought about it. She liked Allison, really. She was a nice girl. But at the root of it, Erica realized that it wasn’t about Allison. It was about not being tossed aside again. Never again, she had promised herself. 

She took the deal. 

Jackson beamed, victorious and told her what he planned to do. Erica nodded grimly. When they walked back in, they separated. Jackson went to go find a corner to sulk in and Erica went back to Boyd.

“What was that about?” he asked. She told him that she’d fill him in later. Not doubting for a second that she would, he nodded easily. The room was starting to get restless as more people began to show up. Allison came in, engrossed in a serious conversation with Lydia (Erica most certainly did not glare but Boyd leaned down to tell her that she was scowling pretty intensely). Stiles bustled into the room a minute later. Danny arrived as well and was the only one brave enough to situate next to his best friend. As more and more people filed in, crew and actors alike, the one person who was noticeably still missing was the mystery wonder kid.

Lydia clapped her hands to settle everyone down. “Alright, let’s get to work. Ms. Blake won’t be able to make it today and you all know I save those annoying inspirational speeches for later, so there’s nothing to wait for. I want all the actors in front, please. Try to sit near each other. Most of you already knows how this works. Boyd, you’re reading stage directions. So let’s start with--” 

Just then, the door opened tentatively. If she hadn’t had the foresight to Facebook stalk him earlier, Erica would have mistaken him for a lost student. He was dressed in a horribly unremarkable gray sweater and refused to look at anyone in the eye despite the fact that the entire room’s focus was clearly on him. It was like he was making a conscious if futile effort to go unnoticed. But she knew who he was. This was, unbelievably, their new leading man. 

“Isaac,” Lydia said, as if finishing her statement. “Perfect, we’ll start from the top.” 

Isaac gave a small nod and situated himself near Allison. She smiled at him encouragingly. Everyone took out their copies of the script. The expectation in the air was heavy. Most of the people in the room were intrigued by this Isaac guy. Theatre wasn’t exactly the most popular extra-curricular, nearly all of them were already familiar with each other. So much so that Lydia always elected to forgo the usual introductions. It wasn’t often that a new face came along and got such a big role. Everyone wanted to see what could have convinced their director to take that kind of risk. Read-throughs were always proving ground but the stakes were higher at this one. 

It started off fine. Erica and Jackson didn’t disappoint. They may have been planning to get out of their roles but they still knew them well. They were both unquestionably talented, and their banter and tension was completely appropriate for the characters. Allison and Isaac on their own were good as well. Allison’s natural kindness bled into her role and Isaac’s mystery lent to his. Stiles’ script was also worth commending. It had his signature wit mixed into a heartfelt plot that managed to bring together the sarcastic and the hopeful. It was funny without trying and incredibly sincere. Even though they were skipping the singing parts, everyone was hopeful for this cast. 

That is, until Isaac and Allison had to do scenes together. Scenes of the romantic persuasion. Then everything ended up a train wreck. It was painfully awkward to watch. The two of them had no chemistry and despite saying the lines well, objectively, there was still something so glaringly missing that the room had gone absolutely speechless. 

Everyone was shooting everyone loaded looks. Jackson and Erica’s were conspiratory while the rest just looked incredibly uncomfortable. It was only Stiles and Lydia who seemed to be passing something that looked like fear. Stiles’ mouth was hanging open again during Isaac’s performance, but for a completely different reason. Lydia turned to him, everything in her demeanor screaming “Do something.” 

As Allison and Isaac soldiered through another scene, Lydia and Stiles were losing more and more hope. Erica and Jackson on the other hand, were practically rejoicing. Erica thought that maybe she wouldn’t even have to go through with Jackson’s plan if things proceeded at this rate. They got through the table-read somehow, between the silences and stiffness. To put it lightly, it was complete and utter shit. Once it was over, everyone was herded out, the murmurs about what had happened already starting. Isaac was among the first to duck out of the room. Erica and Boyd were one of the last. Stiles closed the door behind them and leaned against it for support. Now it was just him and Lydia. 

“We’re fucked,” he whispered, banging the back of his head against the door. “Completely and totally fucked.” 

Lydia looked him straight in the eye and couldn’t bring herself to deny it. This was most certainly going to be a problem.

**Author's Note:**

> I am so sorry it took so long!! I promise the next one will not take a month. If you're still reading this, you get all my hugs. As usual, comment, criticisms, and corrections are greatly encouraged. (Also, I did backstage in high school but none of them were ever original productions so if I got anything wrong, feel free to say so) And, of course, thank you for reading! (bonus points if you can guess which Marina and the Diamonds song Stiles has as his ringtone for Lydia)


End file.
